After creating the simplest nightlight possible (but with very neat functionality) using just a single PICAXE 08M2 chip and an LED, I became intrigued by what else I could do with a minimum of components. A clock using a single-bit input and single-bit output seemed like the natural progression.
There is a very good reason that real-time clock chips exist. And there is also a good reason that electronic interfaces almost always have more than a single bit for input and output. But ignoring both these pieces of conventional wisdom, here is a fully functional timepiece, complete with Westminster quarter hour chimes (during the daylight hours only), active calibration, and a reasonably functional time-setting mechanism (considering there is only a single pushbutton and piezo present for I/O), using only a PICAXE, push-button, and speaker.
Details at http://corticalcafe.com/picaxe_simplest_clock.html
btw, after working on this project, I now have a *great* appreciation for antique mechanical timepieces which can keep time to within a few seconds per day, and also for our modern-day lifestyle, in which we have an expectation that anyone, anywhere, can make arrangements to meet someone else with an accuracy right down to minute, if not down to the second. It's pretty easy to take our technology and modern lifestyle for granted, but it really is pretty amazing.
There is a very good reason that real-time clock chips exist. And there is also a good reason that electronic interfaces almost always have more than a single bit for input and output. But ignoring both these pieces of conventional wisdom, here is a fully functional timepiece, complete with Westminster quarter hour chimes (during the daylight hours only), active calibration, and a reasonably functional time-setting mechanism (considering there is only a single pushbutton and piezo present for I/O), using only a PICAXE, push-button, and speaker.
Details at http://corticalcafe.com/picaxe_simplest_clock.html
btw, after working on this project, I now have a *great* appreciation for antique mechanical timepieces which can keep time to within a few seconds per day, and also for our modern-day lifestyle, in which we have an expectation that anyone, anywhere, can make arrangements to meet someone else with an accuracy right down to minute, if not down to the second. It's pretty easy to take our technology and modern lifestyle for granted, but it really is pretty amazing.